‘I’m Loving eConsults’: Success Stories from the Rollout

Seattle Children’s is excited to be able to offer more eConsults to community providers and their patients.

As of July 31, Children’s has rolled out eConsults for 11 service lines: Adolescent Medicine (including Gender Clinic), Dermatology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Infectious Disease, Neurodevelopmental, Neurology, Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Rheumatology and Sleep Medicine.

An eConsult is an electronic consultation request initiated by a community provider to a Seattle Children’s specialist. It allows community providers to receive timely, efficient care guidance on lower-complexity and data-oriented clinical questions that may not require an in-person evaluation. eConsults are submitted using EpicCare Link (ECL), which is available to all providers regardless of what electronic health record is used in their clinic. Seattle Children’s provides resources such as tips for gathering patient or family consent, photograph guidelines for eConsults, and  frequently asked questions. There are additional resources available within the ECL platform.

For providers who have signed up for ECL and started using eConsults, we are hearing really positive feedback.

“I am loving eConsults,” said Dr. Bridget Sipher of Olympia Pediatrics. “It’s a little time consuming entering them, especially if the patient is not yet in the Seattle Children’s system, but otherwise it’s great. I frequently use the guide that’s available on the home page of EpicCare Link to remind me of the steps. I can do the consult on my time and don’t have to worry about being pulled out of a room when the specialist calls back. I get an email when the response is ready and can print out the recommendations to scan into our electronic medical record.”

Endocrinology was one of the first service lines to roll out eConsults on March 27. The Endocrinology team has completed 117 eConsults as of August 1, 2024, said endocrinologist Dr. Kate Ness.

“We currently have four providers in Endocrinology responding to eConsults,” Ness said. “We wanted to start with a small number of providers because there’s a learning curve on our end as well. We want to make sure we’re meeting all requirements and delivering a good product to our community providers.”

So far, the Endocrinology team is meeting its goal of turning around an eConsult within three business days, with a 94% success rate.

In total, Seattle Children’s has completed 234 eConsults as of August 1, 2024, with a three-day response rate of 95%.

Community providers can submit an eConsult when it’s convenient for them. Seattle Children’s specialists, in turn, can review the question and any attached labs or imaging, and respond back. Community providers receive a notification when the specialist has responded, and everything can be documented in a patient’s electronic medical record.

Before Endocrinology phased out the non-urgent Provider-to-Provider Line on April 5, an on-call specialist often spent much of the day responding to calls. Now, Seattle Children’s specialists have more time to see patients in the hospital.  

In some cases, an eConsult also may save families a clinic visit.

“They get the opinion of a specialist more quickly, and at a lesser cost, without actually having to come all the way into the hospital or clinic,” Ness said.

If you’re a community provider and have not started using eConsults, we encourage you to consider signing up for EpicCare Link and learning more.